combine butter and cheese and whip until smooth. add vanilla, then slowly add flour until a paste-like dough forms. mold in four balls and refridgerate for at least an hour. while it chills, make the fillings.

today i made three fillings: chocolate walnut, apricot ginger and walnut maple cinnamon.

in a small saucepan, dry-toast walnuts until fragrant. add maple syrup and cinnamon. stir well, then add honey. cook for about 30 sec.

once the dough is cool, flatten the dough to discs, then roll each disc out to about 1/2 inch thickness. thicker won't hurt, so don't stress too much about it. i do this between sheets of waxed paper, otherwise it will stick to your hands and the rolling pin and drive you NUTS.

put disc in fridge for ten min. remove one disc from the fridge (work with one disc at a time, and leave the others in the fridge or they will get to soft). cut into eight wedges. put about a teaspoon full of filling on each wedge (more if you can fit it) then roll the wedge in to a crescent. bake cookies in a 375 degree over (preheat of course) for about 20 min, until golden but not golden brown. let cool about 30 min before eating.

i hope you like these, they are so yummy, and would adapt well with all kinds of other fillings. let me know what you think!

I love your idea of colored string! I, typically, am trying to "write" a hint on a tiny part of the corn husk tie with a Sharpie so we've got a clue when they're steamed. It's *hard* to write on and not necessarily so comprehensible 20 minutes later. Where do you get colored string or do you use food colors to color it yourself?

In case you ever wanted to experiment with corn husk ties, the place where I get my tamales does theirs in a double wrap that's interesting. The inner wrap gets folded in along one edge and then rolled shut. Then it's laid on a second wrapper that gets folded in on the opposide end and rolled. Picture wrapping a baby in a blanket and then flipping him around and doing the same thing. Finally, a single thin strip of husk is wrapped and tied along the broad middle of the finished tamale. Not so much fussing with tight seals that threaten to fall off and let the soft tamales fall apart.

The reason I like this particular style of doing it is, when I'm serving them for company, I can slip off the outer wrap and just open the inner wrap to drizzle on a mole. This makes a nice presentation of the revealed tamale inside its rustic "container".

Speaking of moles, do you have some favorites for your homemade tamales?

I use brightly colored embroidery thread to tie the tamales shut. It's inexpensive, comes in lots of bright festive colors, and a little goes a long way since you can split it out and use 3 of the 6 strands. I'm a fiber artist, and once I used handspun cotton dyed with cochineal for a *very* special dinner where 3 if the guests were also fiber artists. I don't worry about dyes in the commercial threads since they don't come in direct contact with the tamales.

Moles/sauces:
I've made a traditional red mole *once*. And that's enough. But it was quite good. Recipe from one of Diana Kennedy's books. Most all the supermarkets around here stock a variety of mole and pipian pastes that you thin to the desired consistency with broth. I adjust the seasoning to my taste after reconstituting the paste. My favorite is the pipian, with the main ingredient being pumpkin seeds. It's a lovely green color, more delicate in flavor than the traditional mole, but it curdles if you let it boil.

The mole paste I see most often is the one with a variety of red chiles, sesame seed, bread crumbs, and chocolate. I think it's Dona Maria brand.

Another tamale topping I like is a Yucatecan-style roasted salsa, especially with shrimp or crabmeat tamales. Broil/roast all ingredients -- tomatoes, chilies, onion & garlic until soft and there are little charred bits for flavor. Then pulse in processor until not-quite-smooth. Adjust seasonings.[/url]

Joined: 29 Sep 2004Posts: 1196Location: buried under a pile of books somewhere in Adelaide, South Australia

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 6:40 am Post subject:

I hesitate to even bring up what I'm going to write, specially on a food forum ..... there, that's got you all wondering, hasn't it .... but I thought you would get a laugh or 2:

I was having a chat about Christmas traditions with a dear friend who has 4 boys. She told me that her family gets together with another family on Christmas Eve to share dinner and enjoy each others company. They only have one rule about their shared meal - EVERYTHING must be store-bought! Nothing home made!

Joined: 18 Oct 2004Posts: 1654Location: Within view of Elliot Bay, The Olympics and every ship in the Sound

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 3:37 pm Post subject:

Anna, They turned out great! I actually made them a bit smaller than you first wrote, I love tiny little cookies! The fillings were great. I made a ton so I am using them as gifts for the post woman, UPS man and matinence guys! Thanks for such a great treat!

Judy, If I was the mother of four boys I might have the same rule!_________________"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

I'm also Hanukah. Sadly, I missed it all, at home, but I'm coming home tomorrow and my mom promised to re-make a few good ones.
Anna, you're so right. Latkes are the greatest thing ever. We have onion-potato ones or onion-garlic-rosemary-potato ones (my faves). You can have them with sour cream, yogurt, labne, or any kind of fruit sauce (the yummiest is if you make a fruit sauce from scratch). Also, you can sprinkle just a little bit of sugar on when they're still warm. It sounds weird (sweet/savory) but my great-grandmother introduced everyone to it and it's really yummy. Surprisingly enough, especially if you make them with extra onions.
We also sometimes make cheese latkes for dessert. And if you have extra potato latke batter, dip some fish in for "Jewish fish and chips."
Rugala are delish. We make a less traditional filling, with melted store-bought caramels. Basically Hanukah is just supposed to be rich, preferable friend, foods.
And we also make a big roast goose on Christmas day (it started when I fell in love with Dickens' A Christmas Carol at a very young age)._________________Don't forget the cannolis!

Forgive the pun , but Lady Amalthea...how do u cook ur goose????
Seriously....I have cooked ducks but never a goose....any secrets??

[/quote]

Try to remove as much of the fat as you possibly can; it really pays off. Also, roast it on one side for about 1.5 hours, then on the other for another 1-1.5 hours. You do that at 325. Then raise the oven to 400 and roast for 15 more minutes to make it crispy. One good way to get rid of the fat is to prick the goose skin all over (after you've removed a lot by hand). This gives the fat a way to seep out through all the little holes. If it seems really fatty, before you cook the goose, you can pour boiling water over it to force more fat out of the pores.
Hope this helps; let me know if you want more specific advice. Good luck!_________________Don't forget the cannolis!

I saw a great movie several years ago, set in LA, based on different ethnic Thanksgiving celebrations. I'm sure all foodies would enjoy it - it is called "What's Cooking". Director Gurinder Chadha, stars Merdedes Rule, Laine Kazan, Joan Chen._________________Barbara

Joined: 18 Oct 2004Posts: 1654Location: Within view of Elliot Bay, The Olympics and every ship in the Sound

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 1:55 am Post subject:

I am so excited. Today I go to the butcher shop to pick up my fresh, uncured, bone in ham!! I have been looking forward to making Lechon Asado for months, but it had to make it's debut at my table on Christmas Eve. I will be the fool out in the cold and ice using the barbeque, but it will be worth it! I may even dance a little jig, Monkey Style while it is in the que.
The marinade for this dish is garlic, cumin, oregano, sour orange, olive oil, cilantro, salt pepper and onion. You marinate it over night stuffing little slits full of garlic and herbs. BBQ it until it falls apart then serve it with a side of mojo. I am serving it with a spicy black bean soup, savory empanadas and maybe patatas bravas. We plan to wash it all down with champagne. Dessert will be my favorite, creme brulee. I love using my torch!

To our Jewish friends, may I encourage one of you to start a thread on traditional Jewish cooking. I have been trying to learn more about it, and it seems I could learn a lot from you._________________"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

Well it's all over now and I'm back at work! And Erin! The soup was fabulous, a wonderful rich colour, the underlying orange was a real surprise and you are quite right about the walnut butter---really added something special. I didn't have the demi-glace so used 1/2 cup of cream instead and it worked wonderfully.

Rainey--the red, green and white of the salad set off the whole table, a real eye pleaser, and tasty to boot.